Under a Blue Moon

Happy Monday.  I hope everyone had a good weekend.  We had a whirlwind of visitors which is always fun.  So our weekend was spent visiting and eating.  

I made pumpkin French toast which I don't think I'll make again.  To me the pumpkin flavor wasn't really all that pronounced and the toast itself seemed kind of mushy (even following the Alton Brown method of making perfect French toast – which totally works with regular French toast).  The breakfast wasn't a total flop since we had fresh cherries from the farmer's market.  

To me nothing is quite as Summery as cherries.  All of my Nancy Drew books had smears of cherry juice in the pages because I would get up in the morning, throw on some shorts and head outside to pick a bowl of cherries.  Then I would lay in the hammock reading and eating cherries until I swore I would never eat another one.  Which I wouldn't, until the next morning when I would repeat the process.

We are really enjoying our new town.  Everyone is friendly, the downtown is always bustling with people and it is very family friendly.  They have a number of fountains downtown including a very interactive one.  It was nice and hot on Saturday and after lunch one of our visitors couldn't resist the lure.

Things pleasing me today….

New milkglass pitcher Rick surprised me with

 

Corner of my kitchen with flying pigs and cookbooks

 

Always knowing where to find my keys

 

I was fully intending to do a post with a tour of the backyard but the week kind of got away from me.  It's hard to photograph the backyard because it is long and narrow.  Or shallow and really wide is probably more accurate.  

It is a nice, calm space, despite its bowling alley proportions.  Rick and I like to sit outside for an hour before dinner, having a drink and talking about our day.  

Like the rest of the house we have some plans to spruce it up a bit.  I wanted to list, more for my own record keeping purposes, everything on our to do list.  Big and small.  I'll check back to it throughout the year to see what kind of progress we have made.

I love lists.  Specifically I like crossing things off lists so I'm hoping to knock out a few of the smaller items in the next week or two.  

Inside 

All:

• Patch
  & paint walls 

Living
room:

• Patch
  & paint
• New
  shades & valances
• Area
  rugs
• Floor
  lamp 

Kitchen:

• Patch
  & paint
• Modify
  kitchen cabinet for fridge
• Replace
  chandelier
• Fix
  exhaust fan
• Fix
  3-way switch 

Laundry/Rick’s
Office:

• Build
  corner desk
• Replace
  outlet
• Replace
  carpeting 

Sitting
room:

• Remove
  wallpaper
• Replace
  carpeting
• New
  window coverings
• Replace
  missing screens 

Andrea’s
office:

• Ikea
  desk
• Modify
  table
• Ceiling
  fan? 

Guest
bath:

• Clean
  out drain
• New
  window covering 

Hall
bath:

• Tub
  area remodel (raise ceiling, new tub, tile, door)
• Remove
  soffit above sink
• New
  lighting
• Replace
  counter top
• Remove
  wallpaper 

Master
bedroom:

• Ceiling
  fan
• New
  window coverings 

Outside 

Front:

• Remove
  dead birch tree
• Cut
  down small birch in courtyard
• Move
  rose in courtyard
• Modify
  sprinkler layout in front yard
• Install
  sprinkler timers 

Back:

• Remove
  magnolia tree
• Trim
  pecan tree above roof
• Gutter
  repair
• Remove
  deck
• Install
  wall fountain
• Rear
  sprinkler repair
• Install
  side gate for trailer
• Fence/screen
  for trailer
• Fix
  lattice on gate
• Remove
  bathtub

Yes.  Remove bathtub from backyard.  You can't see it in these pictures but there is an old clawfoot tub, partially submerged in one of the planting areas.  

Ignore the random patch of grass.  It was left over from a roll of sod used in the front yard.  I want to remove the brick bump out you see in the picture and fill it in with lawn.  Oops.  Better add it to my list…